CURSE OF THE VAMPIRES (1970)
Director: Gerardo de Leon
Retromedia Entertainment

Amalia Fuentes and Eddie Garcia ("Dr. Lorca" from the "Blood Island" movies) play brother and sister, returning to their father's mansion on a small island town in the Philippines. They find their father ill and tormented, and learn that their mother, whom they thought was dead for years, is being held prisoner in the basement. Mom is actually a vampire, and it is concluded that there is a curse upon the family.

Garcia visits his mother one evening, but she attacks him and bites him on the neck, turning him into a vampire. Now completely overcome by evil, Garcia puts the bite on a number of village girls, murders his own father (due to his staking of the mom), and devises the death of his sister's new spouse (Romeo Vasquez). He now wants to put the bite on his sister, who's overly grief-stricken from the loss of her mate, but the hubby returns as a spiritual ghost to protect her from her vampiric brother.

Directed by Gerardo de Leon--the father of Philippine horror, starting with TERROR IS A MAN--this is an above average vampire flick with an extended amount of religious symbolism, a tight conflict within the family, and a lot of nice turn-of-the-century atmosphere. Unlike the feature it was CO-billed with (BEAST OF BLOOD--the final chapter of the "Blood Island" trilogy), the film thrives on style and story telling rather than blood and gore (not that blood and gore are a bad thing). Hemisphere Films also released CURSE in some circuits (and other countries) as "Creatures of Evil."

Unfortunately, the DVD transfer for CURSE OF THE VAMPIRES is somewhat of a disappointment, but the producers of the disc don't attempt to disclose the matter. On-screen host Fred Olen Ray introduces the print as being inferior, and the back cover reads, "Murky Letterboxed Edition." And that is exactly what you get, a murky and slightly letterboxed print. The quality looks very fuzzy, and colors are washed out. The sound is troubled by pops and hiss, but tolerable. At best, this is acceptable when compared to the average VHS tape, and at a low retail price, it's still definitely worth the purchase for classic horror enthusiasts.

Extras include an amusing introduction by Fred and his wife Miss Kim (this time from the front seat of a van parked at a drive-in), bloopers from their antics, a still gallery, trailers for other Retromedia releases, and authentic drive-in intermissions. The grindhouse-whipped trailer for CURSE OF THE VAMPIRES has much stronger colors and is much sharper than the feature, giving us a better glimpse of de Leon's impressive lighting schemes and camera setups. (George R. Reis)

 

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